Its officially fall (feels more like winter) here in New York and that means its time for some “warm and fuzzy” fall jellos. Sugar and spiced pears over cinnamon cream cheese is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving feast. This gelatin mold can replace traditional cranberry sauce and be the center of attention on the dinner table or when served up with the pies for dessert.

I love cheesecake! But with the heatwave we experienced this summer who wants to slave away over a hot oven. The beauty of this cheesecake, made with cream cheese and sour cream, is no baking! It is rounded out with a strawberry gelatin topping and a cookie crust.

Sweet and salty deserts are all the rage, and while you may not think to combine such flavors the outcome is really quite amazing. A little saltiness from the crunchy pretzel crust of this pie really brings out the sweet flavor of the peaches with a cool layer of creamy cheese in the middle. The peach layer, made with peach nectar rather than preflavored peach gelatin, is velvety and delicious with a dash of cinnamon and honey to give it a little spice. I wrote this recipe especially for the Cooking Channel where you can find the recipe complete with process photos.

For my friends’ housewarming/ engagement party I wanted to create one the of vintage recipes from the Joys of Jell-O recipe book. I don’t know what it is about the Under-the-Sea Salad that screams domestic bliss (perhaps because its name is reminiscent of a 50’s prom theme), but I decided that this recipe was both housewarming party and summer time appropriate. Its is comprised of a bottom layer of pears suspended in cream cheese and an upper layer of gingery lime gelatin with a crown of pears. Congratulations to Janejai and Conor on your newfound domestication!

I don’t often make savory jello molds because they are usually not very well received. This one, made for a southern food themed dinner party, was the exception and was devoured in minutes by party guests for whom this reminded them of their southern upbringing, myself included. Pimento Cheese spread is a southern comfort food favorite with varying recipes. Normally it calls for mayo, but I made mine with cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, pimentos, cayenne pepper, and just enough gelatin to give it some shape but still be spreadable. I was inspired to create this mold by Nicole Lang’s Kickstarter film project Pimento Cheese, Please! The film production team hits the road this month for the Charleston, SC area in search of folks to interview on the topic. So if you have any pimento cheese related insights or experiences contact Nicole – pimentocheeseplease [at] gmail [dot] com. She’d love to hear from you!

Thanksgiving is just days away and its time to start preparing for the feast (as demonstrated by the insanity I just witnessed at the grocery store). One good thing about jello is you can prepare in advance and unmold it before serving… cutting down on at least some of the last minute meal-time stress. This pretty mold is made from tart cranberry juice, sliced apples, and cream cheese. Forget about cranberry sauce and throw this out on the dinner table instead. It will stand out among the mashed potatoes and greenbean casserole. This is the last in series of Thanksgiving-time jello creations for KitchenDaily. Click to read the full article and learn how to make your own. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Starr told me about this strawberry Jello and cream cheese layered dish with a crushed pretzel crust that was a childhood favorite and a staple at family gatherings in her Pennsylvania hometown growing up. I’ve been wanting try it for a while so I made it for Starr for her birthday. I followed the recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything. (In retrospect I would have used less Cool Whip, as little as one cup, as my cheese layer came out too runny and sweet.) Happy Birthday Starr!

To celebrate my own Scorpio birthday this year I threw a Jello Party. I made my first savory jello for the occasion of chive cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, and Worcestershire sauce. I also created an array of liquor filled mini jellos in such flavors as peach, mango, gooseberry, and mojito, all with either rum or vodka. In addition I made a pistachio dessert jello with whipped topping. I was introduced to D’Gari gelatin mixes which come in a variety of exotic flavors (like Walnut, Coconut, Chocolate, and Eggnog) and are made with either water or milk. I used these to make most of the jello minis and the pistachio jello.